Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky
1831
- 1891
THEOSOPHICAL
GLOSSARY
BY
H.
P. BLAVATSKY
First
Published 1892
D. Both in the English and Hebrew alphabets the
fourth letter, whose numerical value is four. The symbolical signification in
the Kabbala of the Daleth is “door”. It is the Greek delta
D, through which the world (whose symbol is the tetrad or number four,)
issued, producing the divine seven. The name of the Tetrad was Harmony with the
Pythagoreans, “because it is a diatessaron in sesquitertia”. With the
Kabbalists, the divine name associated with Daleth was Daghoul.
Daath
(Heb.) Knowledge; “the
conjunction of Chokmah and Binah, Wisdom and Understanding”: sometimes, in
error, called a Sephira. [w.w.w.]
Dabar
(Heb.) D (a) B (a) R (im),
meaning the “Word”, and the “Words” in the Chaldean Kabbala, Dabar and
Logoi. (See Sec.Doct.
Dabistan (Pers.) The land of Iran; ancient Persia.
Dache-Dachus (Chald.) The dual emanation of Moymis, the
progeny of the dual or androgynous World-Principle, the male Apason and female
Tauthe. Like all theocratic nations possessing Temple mysteries, the
Babylonians never mentioned the “One” Principle of the Universe, nor did they
give it a name. This made Damascious (Theogonies) remark that like the
rest of “ barbarians” the Babylonians passed it over in silence. Tauthe was the
mother of the gods, while Apason was her self-generating male power, Moymis,
the ideal universe, being her only-begotten son, and emanating in his
turn Dache-Dachus, and at last Belus, the Demiurge of the objective Universe.
Dactyli (Gr.) From daktulos, “a finger”. The
name given to the Phrygian Hierophants of Kybele, who were regarded as the
greatest magicians and exorcists. They were five or ten in number because of
the five fingers on one hand that blessed, and the ten on both hands which
evoke the gods. They also healed by manipulation or mesmerism.
Dadouchos
(Gr.) The torch-hearer, one of
the four celebrants in the Eleusinian mysteries. There were several attached to
the temples but they appeared in public only at the Panathenaic Games at
Athens, to preside over the so-called “torch-race”. (See Mackenzie’s R.M, Cyclopćdia.)
Dćmon (Gr.) In the original Hermetic works and
ancient classics it has a meaning identical with that of “god”, “angel” or
“genius”. The Dćmon of Socrates is the incorruptible part of the man, or rather
the real inner man which we call Nous or the rational divine Ego. At all events
the Dćmon (or Daimon of the great Sage was surely not the demon of the
Christian Hell or of Christian orthodox theology. The name was given by ancient
peoples, and especially the philosophers of the Alexandrian school, to all
kinds of spirits, whether good or bad, human or otherwise. The appellation is
often synonymous with that of gods or angels. But some philosophers tried, with
good reason, to make a just distinction between the many classes.
Dćnam (Pahlavi) Lit., “Knowledge”, the principle of
understanding in man, rational Soul, or Manas, according to the Avesta.
Dag,
Dagon (Heb.). “Fish” and also
“Messiah”. Dagon was the Chaldean man-fish Oannes, the mysterious being who
arose daily out of the depths of the sea to teach people every useful science.
He was also called Annedotus.
Dâgoba (Sk.), or Stűpa. Lit: a sacred mound or
tower for Buddhist holy relics. These are pyramidal-looking mounds scattered
all over India and Buddhist countries, such as Ceylon, Burmah, Central Asia,
etc. They are of various sizes, and generally contain some small relics of
Saints or those claimed to have belonged to Gautama, the Buddha. As the human
body is supposed to consist of 84,000 dhâtus (organic cells with
definite vital functions in them), Asoka is said for this reason to have built
84,000 dhâtu-gopas or Dâgobas in honour of every cell of the Buddha’s
body, each of which has now become a dhârmadhâtu or holy relic. There is
in Ceylon a Dhâtu-gopa at Anurâdhapura said to date from160 years B.C. They are
now built pyramid-like, but the primitive Dâgobas were all shaped like towers
with a cupola and several tchhatra (umbrellas) over them. Eitel states that the
Chinese Dâgobas have all from 7 to 14 tchhatras over them, a number
which is symbolical of the human body.
Daitya
Guru (Sk.) The instructor of
the giants, called Daityas (q.v.) Allegorically, it is the title given
to the planet Venus-Lucifer, or rather to its indwelling Ruler, Sukra, a
male deity
(See Sec. Doct.. ii. p. 30).
Daityas
(Sk.) Giants, Titans, and exoterically demons, but in
truth identical with certain Asuras, the intellectual gods, the opponents of
the useless gods of ritualism and the enemies of puja sacrifices.
Daivi-prakriti (Sk.) Primordial, homogeneous light, called by
some Indian Occultists “the Light of the Logos” (see Notes on the Bhagavat
Gita, by T. Subba Row, B.A., L.L.B.); when differentiated this light
becomes FOHAT.
Dâkinî (Sk.) Female demons, vampires and
blood-drinkers (asra-pas). In the Purânas they attend upon the
goddess Kâli and feed on human flesh. A species of evil “Elementals” (q.v.).
Daksha
(Sk.) A form of Brahmâ and his
son in the Purânas But the Rig Veda states that “Daksha sprang from
Aditi, and Aditi from Daksha”, which proves him to be a personified correlating
Creative Force acting on all the planes. The Orientalists seem very much
perplexed what to make of him; but Roth is nearer the truth than any, when
saying that Daksha is the spiritual power, and at the same time the male energy
that generates the gods in eternity, which is represented by Aditi. The Purânas
as a matter of course, anthropomorphize the idea, and show Daksha instituting
“sexual intercourse on this earth”, after trying every other means of
procreation. The generative Force, spiritual at the commencement, becomes of
course at the most material end of its evolution a procreative Force on the
physical plane ; and so far the Purânic allegory is correct, as the Secret
Science teaches that our present mode of procreation began towards the end of
the third Root-Race.
Daladâ
(Sk.)A very precious relic of
Gautama the Buddha; viz., his supposed left canine tooth preserved at the great
temple at Kandy, Ceylon. Unfortunately, the relic shown is not genuine. The
latter has been securely secreted for several hundred years, ever since the
shameful and bigoted attempt by the Portuguese (the then ruling power in
Ceylon) to steal and make away with the real relic. That which is shown in the
place of the real thing is the monstrous tooth of some animal.
Dama (Sk.). Restraint of the senses.
Dambulla (Sk.) The name of a huge rock in Ceylon. It is
about 400 feet above the level of the sea. Its upper portion is excavated, and
several large cave-temples, or Vihâras, are cut out of the solid rock, all of
these being of pre-Christian date. They are considered as the best- preserved
antiquities in the island. The North side of the rock is vertical and quite
inaccessible, but on the South side, about 150 feet from its summit, its huge
overhanging granite mass has been fashioned into a platform with a row of large
cave-temples excavated in the surrounding walls—evidently at an enormous
sacrifice of labour and money. Two Vihâras may he mentioned out of the
many: the Maha Râja Vihâra, 172 ft. in length and 75 in breadth, in
which there are upwards of fifty figures of Buddha, most of them larger than
life and all formed from the solid rock. A well has been dug out at the foot of
the central Dâgoba and from a fissure in the rock there constantly drips
into it beautiful clear water which is kept for sacred purposes. In the other,
the Maha Dewiyo Vihâra, there is to be seen a gigantic figure of the
dead Gautama Buddha, 7 feet long, reclining on a couch and pillow cut out of
solid rock like the rest. “This long, narrow and dark temple, the position and
placid aspect of Buddha, together with the stillness of the place, tend to
impress the beholder with the idea that he is in the chamber of death. The
priest asserts . . . . that such was Buddha, and such were those (at his feet
stands an attendant) who witnessed the last moments of his mortality” (Hardy’s
East. Monachism). The view from Dambulla is magnificent. On the large
rock platform which seems to he now more visited by very intelligent tame white
monkeys than by monks, there stands a huge Bo-Tree, one of the numerous scions
from the original Bo-Tree under which the Lord Siddhârtha reached Nirvâna.
“About 50 ft. from the summit there is a pond which, as the priests assert, is
never without water.”
(The Ceylon Almanac, 1834.)
Dammâpadan
(Pali.) A Buddhist work
containing moral precepts.
Dâna
(Sk.). Almsgiving to
mendicants, lit., “charity”, the first of the six Paramitas in Buddhism.
Dânavas
(Sk.). Almost the same as Daityas; giants and
demons, the opponents of the ritualistic gods.
Dangma
(Sk.) In Esotericism a purified
Soul. A Seer and an Initiate; one who has attained full wisdom.
Daos
(Chald.) The seventh King
(Shepherd) of the divine Dynasty, who reigned over the Babylonians for the
space of ten sari, or 36,000 years, a saros being of 3,600 years’
duration. In his time four Annedoti, or Men-fishes (Dagons) made their
appearance.
Darâsta
(Sk) Ceremonial magic
practised by the central Indian tribes, especially among the Kolarians.
Dardanus
(Gr.) The Son of Jupiter and
Electra, who received the Kabeiri gods as a dowry, and took them to Samothrace,
where they were worshipped long before the hero laid the foundations of Troy,
and before Tyre and Sidon were ever heard of, though Tyre was built 2,760 years
B.C.
(See for fuller details “Kabiri”.)
Darha (Sk.) The ancestral spirits of the Kolarians.
Darsanas
(Sk.) The Schools of Indian
philosophy, of which there are six; Shad-darsanas or six demonstrations.
Dasa-sil (Pali.) The ten obligations or commandments
taken by and binding upon the priests of Buddha; the five obligations or Pansil
are taken by laymen.
Dava
(Tib.) The moon, in Tibetan
astrology.
Davkina
(Chald.) The wife of Hea, “the goddess of the lower regions,
the consort of the Deep”, the mother of Merodach, the Bel of later times, and
mother to many river-gods, Hea being the god of the lower regions, the “lord of
the Sea or abyss”, and also the lord of Wisdom.
Dayanisi (Aram.). The god worshipped by the Jews along
with other Semites, as the “Ruler of men”; Dionysos—the Sun; whence Jehovah
Nissi, or Iao-Nisi, the same as Dio-nysos or Jove of Nyssa.
(See Isis Unveil. II. 526.)
Day
of Brahmâ. See “Brahmâ's Day” etc.
Dayus
or Dyaus (Sk). A Vedic
term. The unrevealed Deity, or that which reveals Itself only as light and the
bright day—metaphorically.
Death, Kiss of. According to the Kabbalah, the
earnest follower does not die by the power of the Evil Spirit, Yetzer ha Rah,
but by a kiss from the mouth of Jehovah Tetragrammaton, meeting him in the
Haikal Ahabah or Palace of Love. [w.w.w.]
Dei
termini (Lat.). The name for
pillars with human heads representing Hermes, placed at cross-roads by the
ancient Greeks and Romans. Also the general name for deities presiding over
boundaries
and frontiers.
Deist. One who admits the existence of a god or gods, but
claims to know nothing of either and denies revelation. A Freethinker of olden
times.
Demerit. In Occult and Buddhistic parlance, a constituent of
Karma. It is through avidya or ignorance of vidya, divine
illumination, that merit and demerit are produced. Once an Arhat obtains full
illumination and perfect control over his personality and lower nature, he
ceases to create merit and demerit
Demeter The Hellenic name for the Latin Ceres, the goddess of
corn and tillage. The astronomical sign, Virgo. The Eleusinian Mysteries were
celebrated in her honour.
Demiurgic
Mind.The same as “Universal Mind”.
Mahat, the first “product” of Brahmâ, or himself.
Demiurgos
(Gr) The Demiurge or Artificer; the Supernal Power which
built the universe. Freemasons derive from this word their phrase of “Supreme
Architect ”. With the Occultists it is the third manifested Logos, or Plato’s
“second god”, the second logos being represented by him as the “Father”, the
only Deity that he dared mention as an Initiate into the Mysteries.
Demon
est Deus inversus (Lat) A
Kabbalistic axiom; lit., “the devil is god reversed”; which means that there is
neither evil nor good, but that the forces which create the one create the
other, according to the nature of the materials they find to work upon.
Demonologia
(Gr.). Treatises or Discourses upon Demons, or Gods in
their dark aspects.
Demons. According to the Kabbalah, the demons dwell in the
world of Assiah, the world of matter and of the “shells”’ of the dead. They are
the Klippoth. There are Seven Hells, whose demon dwellers represent the vices
personified. Their prince is Samael, his female companion is Isheth Zenunim—the
woman of prostitution: united in aspect, they are named “The Beast”, Chiva.
[w.w.w.]
Demrusch (Pers.). A Giant in the mythology of ancient
Iran.
Denis, Angoras. “A physician of Paris, astrologer and
alchemist in the XIVth century” (R.M.C.).
Deona
Mati. In the Kolarian dialect, one
who exorcises evil spirits.
Dervish. A Mussulman—Turkish or Persian—ascetic. A nomadic and
wandering monk. Dervishes, however, sometimes live in communities. They are
often called the “whirling charmers”. Apart from his austerities of life,
prayer and contemplation, the Turkish, Egyptian, or Arabic devotee presents but
little similarity with the Hindu fakir, who is also a Mussulman. The latter may
become a saint and holy mendicant the former will never reach beyond his second
class of occult manifestations. The dervish may also be a strong mesmerizer,
but he will never voluntarily submit to the abominable and almost incredible
self-punishment which the fakir invents for himself with an ever-increasing
avidity, until nature succumbs and he dies in slow and excruciating tortures.
The most dreadful operations, such as flaying the limbs alive; cutting off the
toes, feet, and legs ; tearing out the eyes and causing one’s self to be buried
alive up to the chin in the earth, and passing whole months in this posture,
seem child’s play to them. The Dervish must not be confused with the Hindu sanyâsi
or yogi. (See “Fakir”).
Desatir. A very ancient Persian work called the Book of
Shet. It speaks of the thirteen Zoroasters, and is very mystical.
Deva
(Sk.). A god, a “resplendent”
deity. Deva-Deus, from the root div “to shine”. A Deva is a celestial
being—whether good, bad, or indifferent. Devas inhabit “the three worlds”,
which are the three planes above us. There are 33 groups or 330 millions
of them.
Deva
Sarga (Sk.). Creation: the
origin of the principles, said to be Intelligence born of the qualities or the
attributes of nature.
Devachan (Sk.). The “dwelling of the gods”. A state
intermediate between two earth-lives, into which the EGO (Atmâ-Buddhi-Manas, or
the Trinity made One) enters, after its separation from Kâma Rupa, and the
disintegration of the lower principles on earth.
Devajnânas (Sk.). or Daivajna. The
higher classes of celestial beings, those who possess divine knowledge.
Devaki (Sk.). The mother of Krishna. She was shut up
in a dungeon by her brother, King Kansa, for fear of the fulfilment of a
prophecy which stated that a son of his sister should dethrone and kill him.
Notwithstanding the strict watch kept, Devaki was overshadowed by Vishnu, the
holy Spirit, and thus gave birth to that god’s avatara, Krishna. (See
“Kansa”.)
Deva-laya
(Sk.). “The shrine of a Deva”. The name given to all
Brahmanical temples.
Deva-lôkas
(Sk.). The abodes of the Gods or Devas in superior
spheres. The seven celestial worlds above Meru.
Devamâtri
(Sk.). Lit., “the mother of
the gods”. A title of Aditi, Mystic Space.
Dęvanâgarî (Sk.). Lit., “the language or letters of the
dęvas” or gods. The characters of the Sanskrit language. The alphabet and the
art of writing were kept secret for ages, as the Dwijas (Twice-born) and
the Dikshitas (Initiates) alone were permitted to use this art. It was a
crime for a. Sudra to recite a verse of the Vedas, and for any of the
two lower castes (Vaisya and Sudra) to know the letters was an offence
punishable by death. Therefore is the word lipi, ‘‘writing”, absent from
the oldest MSS., a fact which gave the Orientalists the erroneous and rather
incongruous idea that writing was not only unknown before the day of Pânini,
but even to that sage himself That the greatest grammarian the world has ever
produced should be ignorant of writing would indeed be the greatest and most
incomprehensible phenomenon of all.
Devapi
(Sk.). A Sanskrit Sage of the
race of Kuru, who, together with another Sage (Moru), is supposed to live throughout
the four ages and until the coming of Maitreya Buddha, or Kalki (the
last Avatar of Vishnu) ; who, like all the Saviours of the World in their last
appearance, like Sosiosh of the Zoroastrians and the Rider of St. Johns Revelation,
will appear seated on a White Horse. The two, Devapi and Moru, are
supposed to live in a Himalayan retreat called Kalapa or Katapa.
This is a Purânic allegory.
Devarshis, or Deva-rishi (Sk). Lit., “gods rishis”
; the divine or god like saints, those sages who attain a fully divine nature
on earth.
Devasarman
(Sk.). A very ancient author
who died about a century after Gautama Buddha. He wrote two famous works, in
which he denied the existence of both Ego and non-Ego, the one as successfully
as the other.
Dhârana
(Sk). That state in Yoga
practice when the mind has to be fixed unflinchingly on some object of
meditation.
Dhâranî(Sk.). In
Buddhism—both Southern and Northern—and also in Hinduism, it means simply a mantra
or mantras—sacred verses from the Rig Veda. In days of old these
mantras or Dhâranî were all considered mystical and practically efficacious in
their use. At present, however, it is the Yogâchârya school alone which proves
the claim in practice. When chanted according to given instructions a
Dhâranî produces wonderful effects. Its occult power, however, does not
reside in the words but in the inflexion or accent given and the
resulting sound originated thereby. (See “Mantra” and “Akasa”).
Dharma (Sk.). The sacred Law; the Buddhist Canon.
Dharmachakra (Sk.). Lit., The turning of the “wheel of the
Law”. The emblem of Buddhism as a system of cycles and rebirths or
reincarnations.
Dharmakâya
(Sk). Lit., “the glorified
spiritual body” called the “Vesture of Bliss”. The third, or highest of the Trikâya
(Three Bodies), the attribute developed by every “Buddha”, i.e., every initiate
who has crossed or reached the end of what is called the “fourth Path” (in
esotericism the sixth “portal” prior to his entry on the seventh). The highest
of the Trikâya, it is the fourth of the Buddhakchętra, or
Buddhic planes of consciousness, represented figuratively in Buddhist
asceticism as a robe or vesture of luminous Spirituality.
In popular Northern Buddhism these vestures or robes are:
(1) Nirmanakâya (2) Sambhogakâya (3) and Dharmakâya the last being the
highest and most sublimated of all, as it places the ascetic on the threshold
of Nirvâna. (See, however, the Voice of the Silence, page 96, Glossary,
for the true esoteric meaning.)
Dharmaprabhasa (Sk). The name of the Buddha who will appear
during the seventh Root-race. (See “Ratnâvabhâsa Kalpa”, when sexes will exist
no longer).
Dharmasmriti
Upasthâna (Sk). A very long
compound word containing a very mystical warning. “Remember, the constituents
(of human nature) originate according to the Nidânas, and are-not
originally the Self”, which means—that, which the Esoteric Schools teach, and
not the ecclesiastical interpretation.
Dharmâsôka
(Sk.). The name given to the
first Asoka after his conversion to Buddhism,—King Chandragupta, who served all
his long life “Dharma”, or the law of Buddha. King Asoka (the second) was not converted,
but was born a Buddhist.
Dhâtu
(Pali). Relics of Buddha’s body collected after his
cremation.
Dhruva (Sk). An Aryan Sage, now the Pole Star. A Kshatriya
(one of the warrior caste) who became through religious austerities a
Rishi, and was, for this reason, raised by Vishnu to this
eminence in the skies. Also called Grah-Âdhâr or “the pivot of the
planets”.
Dhyan
Chohans (Sk). Lit., “The Lords
of Light”. The highest gods, answering to the Roman Catholic Archangels. The
divine Intelligences charged with the supervision of Kosmos.
Dhyâna
(Sk.). In Buddhism one of the
six Paramitas of perfection, a state of abstraction which carries the ascetic
practising it far above this plane of sensuous perception and out of the world
of matter.
Lit., “contemplation”. The six stages of Dhyan differ only in the degrees of
abstraction of the personal Ego from sensuous life.
Dhyani
Bodhisattyas (Sk.). In
Buddhism, the five sons of the Dhyani-Buddhas. They have a mystic meaning in
Esoteric Philosophy.
Dhyani
Buddhas (Sk.). They “of the
Merciful Heart”; worshipped especially in Nepaul. These have again a secret
meaning.
Dhyani
Pasa (Sk.). “The rope of the
Dhyanis” or Spirits; the Ring “Pass not” (See Sec.Doct., Stanza V., Vol.
I., p. 129).
Diakka. Called by Occultists and Theosophists “spooks” and
“shells”, i.e., phantoms from Kâma Loka. A word invented by the great
American Seer, Andrew Jackson Davis, to denote what he considers untrustworthy
“Spirits”. In his own words: “A Diakka (from the Summerland) is one who
takes insane delight in playing parts, in juggling tricks, in personating
opposite characters; to whom prayer and profane utterances are of equi-value;
surcharged with a passion for lyrical narrations; . . . morally deficient, he
is without the active feelings of justice, philanthropy, or tender affection.
He knows nothing of what men call the sentiment of gratitude; the ends of hate
and love are the same to him; his motto is often fearful and terrible to
others—SELF is the whole of private living, and exalted annihilation the end
of all private life. Only yesterday, one said to a lady medium, signing
himself Swedenborg, this: ‘Whatsoever is, has been, will be, or may be,
that I AM.; and private life is but the aggregative phantasms of thinking
throb- lets, rushing in their rising onward to the central heart of eternal
death’
(The
Diakka and their Victims; “an explanation of the False and Repulsive in
Spiritualism.”) These “Diakka” are then simply the communicating and
materializing so-called “Spirits” of Mediums and Spiritualists.
Dianoia (Gr.). The same as the Logos. The eternal
source of thought, “divine ideation”, which is the root of all thought. (See
“Ennoia.”)
Dido, or Elissa. Astarte; the Virgin of the Sea—who
crushes the Dragon under her foot; The patroness of the Phoćnician mariners. A
Queen of Carthage who fell in love with Ćneas according to Virgil.
Digambara
(Sk.). A naked mendicant.
Lit., “clothed with Space”. A name of Siva in his character of Rudra, the Yogi.
Dii
Minores (Lat.). The inferior or “reflected group of the twelve gods
” or Dii Majores, described by Cicero in his De Natura Deorum, I.
13.
Dîk (Sk). Space, Vacuity.
Diktamnon
(Gr.), or Dictemnus
(Dittany). A curious plant possessing very occult and mystical properties
and well-known from ancient times. It was sacred to the Moon-Goddesses. Luna,
Astarte, Diana. The Cretan name of Diana was Diktynna, and as such the
goddess wore a wreath made of this magic plant. The Dihtamnon is an
evergreen shrub whose contact, as claimed in Occultism, develops and at the
same time cures somnambulism. Mixed with Verbena it will produce clairvoyance
and ecstasy. Pharmacy attributes to the Dihtamnon strongly sedative and
quieting properties. It grows in abundance on Mount Dicte, in Crete, and enters
into many magical performances resorted to by the Cretans even to
this day.
Diksha
(Sk). Initiation. Dikshit,
an Initiate.
Dingir
and Mul-lil (Akkad.).
The Creative Gods.
Dinur
(Heb.). The River of Fire
whose flame burns the Souls of the guilty in the Kabbalistic allegory.
Dionysos
(Sk.). The Demiurgos, who,
like Osiris, was killed by the Titans and dismembered into fourteen parts. He
was the personified Sun, or as the author of the Great Dionysiak Myth
says “He is Phanes, the spirit of material visibility, Kyklops giant of the
Universe, with one bright solar eye, the growth-power of the world, the
all-pervading animism of things, son of Semele Dionysos was born at Nysa or
Nissi, the name given by the Hebrews to Mount Sinai (Exodus xvii. 15), the
birthplace of Osiris, which identifies both suspiciously with “Jehovah Nissi”.
(See Isis Unv. II. 165, 526.)
Dioscuri
(Gr.). The name of Castor and
Pollux, the sons of Jupiter and Leda. Their festival, the Dioscuria, was
celebrated with much rejoicing by the Lacedćmonians.
Dîpamkara
(Sk.). Lit., “the Buddha of fixed light”; a predecessor of
Gautama, the Buddha.
Diploteratology
(Gr.). Production of mixed
Monsters; in abbreviation teratology.
Dis
(Gr.). In the Theogony of
Damascius, the same as Protogonos, the “first born light”, called by
that author “the disposer of all things.
Dises (Scand.). The later name for the divine women
called Walky-rics, Norns, &c., in the Edda.
Disk-worship. This was very common in Egypt but not till
later times, as it began with Amenoph III., a Dravidian, who brought it from
Southern India and Ceylon. It was Sun-worship under another form, the Aten-Nephru,
Aten-Ra being identical with the Adonai of the Jews, the “ Lord of Heaven” or
the Sun. The winged disk was the emblem of the Soul. The Sun was at one time
the symbol of Universal Deity shining on the whole world and all creatures; the
Sabćans regarded the Sun as the Demiurge and a Universal Deity, as did also the
Hindus, and as do the Zoroastrians to this day. The Sun is undeniably the one
creator of physical nature. Lenormant was obliged, notwithstanding his orthodox
Christianity, to denounce the resemblance between disk and Jewish worship.
“Aten represents the Adonai or Lord, the Assyrian Tammuz, and the Syrian
Adonis”(The Gr. Dionys. Myth.)
Divyachakchus
(Sk.). Lit., “celestial Eye”
or divine seeing, perception. It is the first of the six
“Abhijnas” (q.v.) ; the faculty developed by Yoga practice to perceive any
object in the Universe, at whatever distance.
Divyasrôtra
(Sk). Lit., “celestial Ear” Or divine hearing. The second
“Abhijna”, or the faculty of understanding the language or sound produced by any
living being on Earth.
Djâti (Sk.). One of the twelve “Nidanas” (q.v.); the
cause and the effect in the mode of birth taking place according to the “Chatur
Yoni”(q.v.), when in each case a being, whether man or animal, is placed in one
of the six (esoteric seven) Gâti or paths of sentient existence, which
esoterically, counting downward, are: (1) the highest Dhyani (Anupadaka);
(2) Devas ; (3) Men; (4) Elementals or Nature Spirits; (5) Animals; (6) lower
Elementals; (7) organic Germs. These are in the popular or exoteric
nomenclature, Devas, Men, Asűras, Beings in Hells, Prętas (hungry demons), and
Animals.
Djin (Arab.). Elementals ; Nature Sprites; Genii.
The Djins or Jins are much dreaded in Egypt, Persia and
elsewhere.
Djnâna
(Sk), or Jnâna. Lit.,
Knowledge; esoterically, “supernal or divine knowledge acquired by Yoga”.
Written also Gnyana.
Docetć
(Gr.). Lit.,“The
Illusionists”. The name given by orthodox Christians to those Gnostics who held
that Christ did not, nor could he, suffer death actually, but that, if such a
thing had happened, it was merely an illusion which they explained in various
ways.
Dodecahedron (Gr.). According to Plato, the Universe is
built by “the first begotten” on the geometrical figure of the Dodecahedron.
(See Timaeus).
Dodona
(Gr.). An ancient city in
Thessaly, famous for its Temple of Jupiter and its oracles. According to
ancient legends, the town was founded by a dove.
Donar
(Scand.), or Thunar, Thor.
In the North the God of Thunder. He was the Jupiter Tonans of Scandinavia. Like
as the oak was devoted to Jupiter so was it sacred to Thor, and his altars were
over shadowed with oak trees. Thor, or Donar, was the offspring of Odin, “the
omnipotent God of Heaven”, and of Mother Earth.
Dondam-pai-den-pa
(Tib.). The same as the
Sanskrit term Paramarthasatya or “absolute truth”, the highest spiritual
self-consciousness and perception, divine self-consciousness, a very mystical
term.
Doppelgänger
(Germ.). A synonym of the
“Double” and of the “Astral body” in occult parlance.
Dorjesempa
(Tib.). The “Diamond Soul”, a name of the celestial Buddha.
Dorjeshang
(Tib.). A title of Buddha in his highest aspect; a name of
the supreme Buddha; also Dorje.
Double. The same as the “Astral body” or “Doppelgänger”.
Double
Image. The name among the Jewish
Kabbalists for the Dual Ego, called respectively: the Higher, Metatron,
and the Lower, Samael. They are figured allegorically as the two
inseparable companions of man through life, the one his Guardian Angel, the
other his Evil Demon.
Dracontia
(Gr.). Temples dedicated to the Dragon, the emblem of the
Sun, the symbol of Deity,
of Life and Wisdom. The Egyptian Karnac, the Carnac in Britanny, and Stonehenge
are Dracontia
well known to all.
Drakôn (Gr.) or Dragon. Now considered a “mythical”
monster, perpetuated in the West only on seals,. &c., as a heraldic
griffin, and the Devil slain by St. George, &c. In fact an extinct
antediluvian monster In Babylonian antiquities it is referred to as the “scaly
one” and connected on many gems with Tiamat the sea. “The Dragon of the Sea” is
repeatedly mentioned. In Egypt, it is the star of the Dragon (then the North
Pole Star), the origin of the connection of almost all the gods with the
Dragon. Bel and the Dragon, Apollo and Python, Osiris and Typhon, Sigur and
Fafnir, and finally St. George and the Dragon, are the same. They were all
solar gods, and wherever we find the Sun there also is the Dragon, the symbol of
Wisdom—Thoth-Hermes. The Hierophants of Egypt and of Babylon styled themselves
“Sons of the Serpent-God” and “Sons of the Dragon”. “I am a Serpent, I am a
Druid”, said the Druid of the Celto-Britannic regions, for the Serpent and the
Dragon were both types of Wisdom, Immortality and Rebirth. As the serpent casts
its old skin only to reappear in a new one, so does the immortal Ego cast off
one personality but to assume another.
Draupnir (Scand.).
The golden armlet of Wodan or Odin, the companion of the spear Gungnir which he
holds in his right hand; both are endowed with wonderful magic properties.
Dravidians. A group of tribes inhabiting Southern India; the
aborigines.
Dravya
(Sk.). Substance
(metaphysically).
Drishti
(Sk.). Scepticism; unbelief.
Druids. A sacerdotal caste which flourished in Britain and
Gaul. They were Initiates who admitted females into their sacred order, and
initiated them into the mysteries of their religion. They never entrusted their
sacred verses and scriptures to writing, but, like the Brahmans of old,
committed them to memory; a feat which, according to the statement of Cćsar
took twenty years to accomplish. Like the Parsis they had no images or statues
of their gods. The Celtic religion considered it blasphemy to represent any
god, even of a minor character, under a human figure. It would have been well
if the Greek and Roman Christians had learnt this lesson from the “pagan”
Druids. The three chief commandments of their religion were:—“Obedience to
divine laws; concern for the welfare of mankind; suffering with fortitude all
the evils of life”.
Druzes. A large sect, numbering about 100,000 adherents,
living on Mount Lebanon in Syria. Their rites are very mysterious, and no
traveller, who has written anything about them, knows for a certainty the whole
truth. They are the Sufis of Syria. They resent being called Druzes as
an insult, but call themselves the “disciples of Hamsa ”, their Messiah, who
came to them in the ninth century from the “Land of the Word of God”, which
land and word they kept religiously secret. The Messiah to come will be the
same Hamsa, but called Hakem—the “All-Healer ”. (See Isis Unveiled,
II 308, et seq.)
Dudaim (Heb.). Mandrakes. The Atropa Mandragova
plant is mentioned in Genesis, XXX., 14, and in Canticles: the
name is related in Hebrew to words meaning “breasts” and “love”, the plant was
notorious as a love charm, and has been used in many forms of black magic.
Dudaim
in Kabbalistic parlance is the Soul and Spirit; any two things united in love
and friendship (dodim). “Happy is he who preserves his dudaim
(higher and lower Manas) inseparable.”
Dugpas
(Tib.). Lit., “Red Caps,” a
sect in Tibet. Before the advent of Tsong-ka-pa in the fourteenth
century, the Tibetans, whose Buddhism had deteriorated and been dreadfully
adulterated with the tenets of the old Bhon religion,—were all Dugpas.
From that century, however, and after the rigid laws imposed upon the
Gelukpas (yellow caps) and the general reform and purification of Buddhism
(or Lamaism), the Dugpas have given themselves over more than ever to sorcery,
immorality, and drunkenness. Since then the word Dugpas has become a synonym of
“sorcerer”, “adept of black magic” and everything vile. There are few, if any,
Dugpas in Eastern Tibet, but they congregate in Bhutan, Sikkim, and the
borderlands generally. Europeans not being permitted to penetrate further than
those borders, the Orientalists never having studied Buddho-Lamaism in Tibet
proper, but judging of it on hearsay and from what Cosmo di Köros,
Schlagintweit, and a few others have learnt of it from Dugpas, confuse both
religions and bring them under one head. They thus give out to the public pure
Dugpaism instead of Buddho-Lamaism. In short Northern Buddhism in its purified,
metaphysical form is almost entirely unknown.
Dukkha
(Sk.). Sorrow, pain.
Dumah (Heb.). The Angel of Silence (Death) in the
Kabbala.
Durga
(Sk). Lit., “inaccessible”.
The female potency of a god; the name of Kali, the wife of Siva, the Mahesvara,
or “the great god”.
Dustcharitra (Sk.). The “ten evil acts”; namely, three acts
of the body viz., taking life, theft and adultery; four evil acts of the mouth,
viz., lying, exaggeration in accusations, slander, and foolish talk; and three
evil acts of mind (Lower Manas), viz., envy, malice or revenge, and unbelief.
Dwapara
Yuga (Sk.). The third of the
“Four Ages” in Hindu Philosophy ;
or the second age counted from below.
Dwarf
of Death. In the Edda of the
Norsemen, Iwaldi, the Dwarf of Death, hides Life in the depths of the great
ocean, and then sends her up into the world at the right time. This Life is
Iduna, the beauti- ful maiden, the daughter of the “Dwarf”. She is the Eve of
the Scandinavian Lays, for she gives of the apples of ever-renewed youth to the
gods of Asgard to eat ; but these, instead of being cursed for so doing and
doomed to die, give thereby renewed youth yearly to the earth and to men, after
every short and sweet sleep in the arms of the Dwarf. Iduna is raised from the
Ocean when Bragi (q.v.), the Dreamer of Life, without spot or blemish,
crosses asleep the silent waste of waters. Bragi is the divine ideation of
Life, and Iduna living Nature—Prakriti, Eve.
Dwellers
(on the Threshold). A term invented
by Bulwer Lytton in Zanoni; but in Occultism the word “Dweller” is an
occult term used by students for long ages past, and refers to certain
maleficent astral Doubles of defunct persons.
Dwesa (Sk.). Anger. One of the three principal
states of mind (of which 63 are enumerated), which are Râga—pride or
evil desire, Dwesa— anger, of which hatred is a part, and Moha—the
ignorance of truth. These three are to be steadily avoided.
Dwijâ
(Sk.). “Twice-born”. In days
of old this term was used only of the Initiated Brahmans; but now it is applied
to every man belonging to the first of the four castes, who has undergone a
certain ceremony.
Dwija
Brahman (Sk.). The investure
with the sacred thread that now constitutes the “second birth”. Even a Sudra
who chooses to pay for the honour becomes, after the ceremony of passing
through a silver or golden cow—a dwijâ.
Dwipa
(Sk.). An island or a
continent. The Hindus have seven (Sapta dwipa ); the Buddhists only
four. This is owing to a misunderstood reference of the Lord Buddha who, using
the term metaphorically, applied the word dwipa to the races of men. The
four Root-races which preceded our fifth, were compared by Siddhârtha to four
continents or isles which studded the ocean of birth and death—Samsâra.
Dynasties. In India there are two, the Lunar and the Solar, or
the Somavansa and the Suryavansa. In Chaldea and Egypt there were
also two distinct kinds of dynasties, the divine and the human.
In both countries people were ruled in the beginning of time by Dynasties of
Gods. In Chaldea they reigned one hundred and twenty Sari, or in all 432,000
years; which amounts to the same figures as a Hindu Mahayuga 4,320,000 years.
The chronology prefacing the Book of Genesis (English translation) is
given “Before Christ, 4004”. But the figures are a rendering by solar years. In
the original Hebrew, which preserved a lunar calculation, the figures are 4,320
years. This “coincidence” is well explained in Occultism.
Dyookna
(Kab.). The shadow of eternal Light. The “Angels of the
Presence” or archangels.
The same as the Ferouer in the Vendidad and other Zoroastrian
works.
Dzyn or Dzyan (Tib.). Written also Dzen. A
corruption of the Sanskrit Dhyan and jnâna (or gnyâna phonetically)—Wisdom,
divine knowledge. In Tibetan, learning is called dzin.
.
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